{"id":2092,"date":"2016-01-04T12:12:22","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T10:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.germansuzuki.com\/?p=2092"},"modified":"2016-01-04T19:57:11","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T17:57:11","slug":"brian-lewis-part-2-report-from-7th-european-suzuki-teachers-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.germansuzuki.com\/?p=2092","title":{"rendered":"Brian Lewis \u2013 Part 2 \u2013 Report from 7th European Suzuki Teachers Exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary of student masterclasses:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As well as teaching a masterful session on the Bach Violin Concerto in A Minor, Brian also taught a number of student masterclasses. Amongst others, students played pieces by Bach, Wieniawski, Viotti, Severn, Potstock and Kreisler, which were performed by the students either in individual masterclasses or as group sessions. The following is a selection of highlights drawn from these classes.<\/p>\n

Imagination:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

With his animated presenting skills, Brian entertained students and teachers alike, by stimulating their imagination and challenging the students to think about their tone in the form of colours and textures. Brian challenged the students to play a passage in the style of the great composers like Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Stravinsky, and reminded us that \u2018the changes you are able to make [as a violinist] allow you to become a very adaptable musician\u2019.<\/p>\n

Composer\u2019s lives:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

During the masterclasses we heard humorous quips and entertaining stories of Brian\u2019s encounters with Suzuki in his childhood. Brian also shared his substantial knowledge of little known facts about the composers\u2019 personal lives, which shed light on how the pieces could be interpreted.<\/p>\n

During an individual masterclass, Brian helped a student understand that Wieniawski led a wild life and died from the excesses of life in his 40\u2019s. Therefore, his music needs to be fiery and wild to reflect this. However, Mr Lewis carefully reminded us that virtuosity is not about speed, it is about control!<\/p>\n

Tonalization:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Brian discussed the importance of studying tone production at all stages of development, which is an idea central to many great pedagogues, and well known to all Suzuki teachers due to Suzuki’s emphasis on beautiful tone. Brian explained that \u2018people tend to judge us by our sound, and our job as soloists is to be heard\u2019.<\/p>\n

Brian explained that even with his most advanced students, he uses Suzuki\u2019s Tonalization exercise to emphasise resonance and ringing notes. Brian also has his students watch the string physically vibrate, which aids their understanding further.<\/p>\n

With each student, Brian worked on dramatically changing their sound, and discussing sound-related terminology differences that teachers have used in the past. Galamian spoke of lanes, Suzuki spoke of the Kreisler Highway, and Delay spoke of the Forte sounding point. However, they are all referring to the same sound concepts that we as violinists need to internalise.<\/p>\n

Brian talks more about Suzuki\u2019s Tonalization in the following video:<\/p>\n